 | Level: Intermediate Nicholas Chase (ibmquestions@nicholaschase.com), Freelance writer, Backstop Media
(syakovac@gmail.com), Software engineer, Freelance
17 Apr 2007 This six-part series demonstrates how to leverage the power of XForms in conjunction with MySQL and PHP for support processing to create an online accounting tool called X-Trapolate. Every good programming technology possesses a range of problems it excels at solving. The series highlights some of the problems that the XForms solves effectively, such as the need for live calculations and greater interactivity. Part 4 of this six-part series demonstrates how to pull together many of the techniques touched on in earlier installments using the example of the order review form and the asset management form, with special privileges for procurement users. It also introduces new techniques for handling real-world issues.
Prerequisites
This tutorial uses a MySQL database for storage and reference. Necessary SQL commands appear throughout the article, but require a working knowledge of MySQL. PHPMyAdmin offers equivalent access to configure the MySQL database and view the entries from a menu-driven graphical interface. Though the purpose of the series is to educate the reader about the use of XForms, some background knowledge is expected of the reader. There are some very good articles and introductory series concerning XForms available on developerWorks. XForms is built on XML, and, hence, a basic understanding of XML is also assumed. Other technologies and concepts may also be involved, but they will be to a much lesser extent and should be inconsequential to the reader's comprehension of the topic.
System requirements
- A browser capable of displaying XForms, such as Firefox 2.0.1.
- A Web server with PHP enabled, such as WAMP
- An SQL server, MySQL, which is part of the WAMP package in this case.
Duration
1 hour
Formats html, pdf
About this tutorial
Over the first three parts of this series, you have been introduced to various concepts and techniques necessary for building a "real-world" application using XForms. In this tutorial, you are going to see how things interconnect as you build two forms from scratch, as well as the PHP backend necessary to make them work.
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